The Ireland of 1920 was a country at war, in the grip of a revolutionary epoch that would define the politics of the island for much of the next century. The War of Independence was intensifying, while, electorally, Sinn Féin followed up on their stunning performance at the 1918 elections with more gains in the local elections across Ireland in January and June. 1920 also saw the creation of British Auxiliary Units 54
within the RIC, whose rampage of destruction and murder was one more episode in the blight of the British colonial record in Ireland. On top of all this was the unleashing of sectarian violence against Catholics with pogroms against nationalist communities across what is now Northern Ireland. To mark this centenary, An Phoblacht has singled out four distinct stories of turmoil and revolution from this ISSUE NUMBER 3 – 2020 - UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3 anphoblacht
